Holly Willoughby
Holly Marie Willoughby (born 10 February 1981 in Brighton) is an English television presenter, known for her work in presenting children's TV and reality TV. In 2006, she won a Bafta and was chosen to present Dancing on Ice, a highly popular UK celebrity talent show, shown on ITV which draws in an average of 11.7 million viewers. Biography The elder of two daughters to the manager of a double-glazing company and an air-hostess, she was educated at the independent Burgess Hill School in the town of Burgess Hill in West Sussex. She then went on to attend The College of Richard Collyer. Her sister, Kelly, also works in the television industry. She is related by marriage to actress Tamzin Outhwaite, and is best of friends with fellow TV presenter Fearne Cotton.aily mirror, Exclusive: Fearne Cotton and Holly Willoughby on men and marriage Willoughby supports Watford FC, an English professional football club.Sky Sports, Holly's A Frock Star At the age of 23 Willoughby became engaged to Dan Baldwin, a former producer of Ministry of Mayhem, the same day that the couple moved into a flat in South London. Willoughby announced their engagement live on Saturday Showdown, on 6 May 2006.Sunday Mirror, Exclusive: Holly can't wait to wed The wedding took place on 4 August 2007 at Amberley Castle, West Sussex. Fearne Cotton and Sarah Cawood were two of the bridesmaids and Dermot O'Leary was an usher.Daily Mirror, Exclusive 26/02/2008. Whilst she was presenting The Xtra Factor on 1 November 2008, offhand comments by judges Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh led Willoughby to confirm that she was pregnant with her first child.bbc.co.uk, Holly Willoughby expecting baby ITV Xfactor website In 2006, Willoughby won a Bafta in recognition of her abilities as a children’s TV presenter. She is frequently rated as one of the most beautiful and desirable women in the UK.FHM, Holly Willoughby - Ice Maiden In early 2008, she used those good looks to help make the point that the UK, as a nation, waste too much water, by having a 3-minute shower in a cubicle before the public fountain in the middle of Trafalgar Square, London. The event was part of the Be Water Wise campaign which lead up to World Water Day on 22 March 2008. Female First, Holly Willoughby Showers in Public Willoughby has caused minor scandal on occasion. While presenting the children's programme Ministry of Mayhem, in 2004, she accidently exposed a breast.Hollywood Premier, Holly Willoughby: Kids' TV was wild and naughty. In January 2008, Willoughby presented Dancing on Ice in a very low cut dress which led to a small number of complaints by the viewing public.orange.co.uk entertainment news, Good Molly, Miss Holly Career Modelling career In 1995, at the age of 14, Willoughby was spotted by talent scouts at The Clothes Show Live exhibition. Storm Model Management signed her up. She appeared in teen magazines for girls such as Mizz, Just Seventeen and More!. From 1998, at the age of 17, she started modelling lingerie for various clients including Pretty Polly. She appeared in various adverts and posters. Media career Children's TV In 2000, Willoughby won an audition for a show on CITV featuring S Club 7 called S Club TV. In this show actors represented an alternative S Club.Off the Telly Reviews She also acted in a show called S Club 7: Artistic Differences. She played a character called Zoe alongside the regular members of the band.IMDB Listing After these shows, she worked as a receptionist for a short while and then as a runner for the shopping channel Auction World TV. She also took on several menial jobs, and started an Open University course in psychotherapy. Eventually she found work as as assistant floor manager during which time she persuaded a friend to make a show reel of her. This show reel secured her an agent who then contacted the BBC. Later in 2000, she joined CBBC to present a factual entertainment programme for children called Xchange. She went on to host several other children's shows for CBBC: X-perimental, and CBBC at the Fame Academy (CBBC's version of the BBC-TV talent show Fame Academy). Her breakthrough as a children's entertainer came when she re-joined CITV in 2004 to co-present their flagship entertainment show Ministry of Mayhem which aired on Saturday mornings. It was on this programme that she met her future husband Dan Baldwin, one of the show's producers. In 2006, the show's title was changed to Holly & Stephen's Saturday Showdown in order to reflect the popularity of its co-presenters, Willoughby and magician Stephen Mulhern. In addition to co-presenting the show, Willoughby also acted as Mulhern's assistant in a number of illusions, including being sawed in half, guillotined and impaled by spikes. During the final episode of the show (1st July 2006), Willoughby accidentally revealed one of her breasts during a particularly energetic routine. CITV received a small number of complaints, though the wider audience merely wrote the occurance off as unfortunate. The chemistry between Willoughby and Mulhern led to her making regular appearances on his show Tricky TV, assisting with or participating in illusions - Most of which involved her being sawed in half or divided into multiple pieces. This in turn led to her participation in a number of magic segments on prime time tv during 2004-5. Notably she interviewed Debbie McGee for Channel 4's 50 Greatest Magic Tricks, during which segment McGee guillotined her and had her conduct much of the interview as a disembodied head before being restored at the very end. In 2005 Willoughby presented Feel the Fear, a children's entertainment programme in which the presenter's are set unnerving challenges. She has also had a number of minor appearances on other children's programmes and programmes relating to children. She co-presented the final in 2004 of the children's version of Stars in Their Eyes The programmes listed below were broadcast on CITV (ITV) in 2000. * S Club TV (2000) * S Club 7: Artistic Differences (2000) The programmes listed below were broadcast on CBBC (BBC), between 2000 and 2004. * Xchange (2000-2004) * CBBC at the Fame Academy (2002-2003) * X-perimental (2003) The programmes listed below were broadcast on CITV (ITV), between 2004 and 2006. * Ministry of Mayhem aka Holly & Stephen's Saturday Showdown (2004-2006) * Stars in Their Eyes Kids (2004) * Feel the Fear (2005) Mainstream TV Willoughby presented CD:UK for a short while in 2005, She replaced Cat Deeley before Myleene Klass became the regular presenter. Willoughbys's major breakthough as a mainstream family entertainer came when she was chosen to co-present the flagship ITV talent show Dancing on Ice, alongside Phillip Schofield, in 2006.ITV Bio for Dancing On Ice: Holly Willoughby In this show, celebrities from the UK are partnered with professional dancers to learn ice-dancing routines which are then judged by a panel of experts and voted on by the public. She continues to co-host the show. She was cricised for her choice of costume in January 2008 (see biography, above). She has presented a number of other ITV programmes, especially spin-off show such as Celebrity Wrestling: Bring It On, Greased Lightnin and most recently, The Xtra Factor. She continued her involvement in magic, appearing as a guest on a number of shows including a short-lived UK version of Celebrity Magic and a Criss Angel special re-edited for the UK. For the latter appearance a new illusion was designed by Franz Harary which was nicknamed the Holly Box. She subsequently appeared with Stephen Mulhern to launch a new set of magic-themed stamps from Royal Mail at the Magic Circle, being photographed whilst being levitated. She has also presented shows exploring celebrity gossip such as Lip Service and the comedy show Celebrity Juice. In 2007, she took over from Davina McCall as the presenter of Streetmate, a dating game show in the UK. She presented sections of The National Television Awards in 2007 and 2008. She currently co-presents Holly & Fearne Go Dating alongside Fearne Cotton. In this show the two hosts, who are presented as best friends, attempt to find dates for single people that they meet in various situations in in UK. She also currently presents Here Come the Boys, a show celebrating the achievements of popular UK male singers of the past 50 years. All programmes listed below are broadcast on BBC channels. * Junior Eurovision (2004) * All programmes listed below are broadcast on ITV (ITV1 and ITV2 channels). * CD:UK (2005) * Celebrity Wrestling: Bring It On (2005) * Dancing on Ice (2006-present) * Lip Service (2006) * The Westlife Show: Live (December 2007) * Greased Lightnin (2007) * ''Streetmate (2007) * Holly & Fearne Go Dating (2007) * The Xtra Factor (2008-present) * Celebrity Juice (2008-present) * The National Television Awards (2007 and 2008) * Here Come the Boys (2008-present) Guest appearances * Contestant Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway (29 September 2007) * Contestant All Star Family Fortunes (3 November 2007) * Guest presenter This Morning (5 December 2008) Awards *BAFTA children's TV presenter (2006). Other notable achievements * She was voted 71st in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World poll in 2005; 30th in 2006 and 100th in 2008. * She turned on Brighton's first Christmas lights for 25 years on 16 November 2006. * In August 2008, she and Fearne Cotton began a series of television advertisements promoting the Imagine game series for Nintendo DS. External links * Official Holly Willoughby Website * ITV Celebrity Playlist for Holly Willoughby * Holly Willoughby Fan site